Bouquet, a package with seals, and minus two million: how a woman was deceived in Vyatskiye Polyany

      Two months of communication with strangers over the phone resulted in a resident of Vyatskiye Polyany losing a large sum of money and contacting the police. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Kirov region, the woman was first called by a stranger who introduced himself as a social services employee. He informed her that she was entitled to a payment for a deceased relative. To receive the payment, he asked her to provide her passport number — the woman complied.

      Next, calls began to come in from people claiming to be law enforcement officers. They stated that by providing information about her documents, the woman had allegedly given criminals the opportunity to transfer money from her account to suspicious accounts. The fake law enforcement officers warned her that this could lead to searches and the seizure of her savings. To avoid losing her money, she needed to "declare" it — hand it over to a specially authorized person. They promised to return the funds after checks.

      A stranger indeed came to the woman's home. She handed him 1 million rubles in cash. After some time, she received a package with seals that resembled a bundle of banknotes. They demanded that she not open it until the verification procedures were completed. As compensation "for the inconvenience," a courier delivered a bouquet of flowers to the woman.

      However, the calls did not stop. New interlocutors again identified themselves as law enforcement officers and informed her that the criminals were now trying to apply for a loan in the name of the resident of Vyatskiye Polyany. According to them, a foreign application could be canceled by submitting her own. The money received needed to be sent to a "protected special account." Thus, the callers assured her, the loan would be paid off, and the money would remain safe.

      The woman followed the instructions. But the loan was not repaid, after which she realized she had been deceived. A second million rubles was transferred to the fraudsters.

      An investigator from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia "Vyatskopolyansky" has opened a criminal case for fraud on a particularly large scale. The identities of the suspects are being established.

      The very package that was returned with seals was never opened by the woman. It was seized by the police for examination. The Ministry of Internal Affairs notes that there are grounds to doubt the authenticity of the banknotes. In addition, the package may retain fingerprints of the criminals.

      The agency urges citizens not to give or transfer money based on instructions received from strangers over the phone or during online communication. Law enforcement officers do not require citizens to perform such actions under any circumstances. Information received should be verified with competent sources.